Alba Berlin continues to trail the competition in the Euroleague. The German club clearly lost 71:88 (34:42) at top Spanish team Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz on Friday evening
After its 23rd defeat in 28 games, Alba remains bottom of Europe’s premier league. Berlin’s best scorers were Khalifa Koumadje and Matt Thomas with twelve points each.
Coach Israel Gonzalez had to do without almost an entire team due to injury. World champion Johannes Thiemann (inner ligament), Gabriele Procida (knee), Matteo Spagnolo (torn muscle fiber) and Justin Bean (muscular problems) were not fit for action. The shorthanded team got off to a poor start, trailing 2:8 after just over two minutes.
Berlin found it incredibly difficult in offense and then also missed the easy shots. The deficit was already in double figures by the end of the first quarter (8:20). The visitors did not score better until midway through the second period and were at least able to halve a 16-point deficit (14:32) by half-time.
Both teams now briefly went toe-to-toe. However, Alba was hardly able to stop the home side’s offense and so the gap did not diminish. However, Baskonia then pulled 20 points ahead again at the start of the fourth period (69:49). A brief rally by the visitors in the final period did not change the clear defeat
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz – Alba Berlin 88:71 (42:34)
Best scorers for Baskonia: Moneke (16 points), Miller-McIntyre (14)
Best scorers for Berlin: Koumadje (12), Thomas (12), Rapieque (11), Wetzell (10)
Spectators: 8226
